1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to home exterior sidewall and window enhancement devices such as decorative window shutters, awnings, pediments and so forth.
2. Description of Prior Art
Looking around any residential neighborhood even the casual observer will notice a vertical straightness and plainness, an unadorned makeup, a non-aesthetic appearance, of the sides of houses, homes, particularly at the tops of, or above the windows. Siding in itself, aluminum, and in particular more recently, vinyl, has done much to enhance and bring about a lasting exterior good look. The vinyl siding acts like a permanent skin of new paint, is lightweight and strong, and the material color is indefinitely retentive. And, in particular, it has been the windows that are continuously, thoughtfully, and carefully being designed and redesigned to not only provide a port of light but also a lasting and increasingly available aesthetic beauty for the house, the home.
In addition, some designers, manufacturers, and builders provide such items as pediments, mantels, planters, headers, crossheads, moldings, awnings and canopies, and shutters for further exterior sidewall enhancement and beautification, particularly around and about the windows. Some of these items are very decorative, artistic, and aesthetically appealing. But, these items are, except the awnings, more or less two dimensional in their makeup; that is, they are still included in the vertical sidewall plane and do not protrude from that plane to break up the unencumbered straight vertical wall. It remains a plane of plainness. Also, these items are expensive especially if they are made of molded polyethylene or polyurethane or machined from wood. Also, they are usually a part of the original permanent construction or makeup of the house and require expertise in their installation, placement, and sealing.
Awnings and canopies, above windows and doors, do provide sun shading, and do provide relief from direct exposure to the weather, and do aesthetically break up this vertical sidewall plainness. Such awnings can be made of canvas, aluminum, wood, and of other man made materials.
Awnings made of flexible canvas usually have a slanting single piece top cover and vertical side panels, all of which may have extending scalloped fringe valances. This type of awning is usually supported beneath by aluminum or steel tubing or bracketed framework that is attachable to the side of the house. These types of awnings can be retractable or fixed.
Aluminum awnings are usually made up of multiple adjacent overlapping stacked and joined together, either horizontally or vertically, ribbed and rigid, long and narrow, aluminum sheet pieces in various lengths and widths to make up an awning structure. They also have a supporting frame that is attachable to the side of the house. Aluminum awnings are usually non-retractable and permanently fixed.
Awnings of both types, canvas or aluminum, have their specific purposes, and their specific advantages and disadvantages. If well kept up and maintained, they provide a welcomed house feature. If not maintained, their color can fade, bleach, and wash out from constant exposure to the elements. And canvas can and does tear, and aluminum can and does bend. Both are relatively heavy and thus somewhat difficult to install. Also, the underside of the awning and the siding directly beneath the awning are subject to dirt buildup and streaking. Both types are subject to ice and snow damage and both can catch the wind as a sail and thus break up or tear even though attachment means can be heavily structurally made. Also, usually the color scheme of both canvas and metal awnings does not coordinate nor blend in well with the house siding nor other decorative devices colors such as decorative window shutters. They also do not completely aesthetically fill the void that exists, and still can readily be seen above the tops of the windows, even when the awnings are in place.
And it is the decorative window shutters, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) shutters in particular, which have caught on and excelled. They provide a welcomed and good looking, colorful enhancement to new and old houses alike. They do not color fade and through good structural design they retain their shape and rigidity. Most houses have these shutters and they are still profusely being manufactured and installed. And even as these shutters are extremely popular and have provided a definite aesthetic enhancement to the sides of houses and to the windows themselves, they, in doing so, unfortunately further contribute to an increase in the already present ornamental void at the tops of the windows. Also, the ornamental shutters, being in and a part of the vertical plane of the house sides, do not break up that plane of plainness.
Consequently, the need exists, the value becomes apparent, for a device, to aesthetically enhance the tops of windows and to break up the house vertical side plainness. The device needs to be pleasant and comfortable. It needs to be streamlined for looks, efficiency, and wind resistance. It needs to be made of polyvinyl chloride like the shutters themselves, to be strong yet resilient, sturdy, and long lasting. It needs to be made of polyvinyl chloride to be colorful, color retentive, and able to be color coordinated to the polyvinyl chloride decorative shutters and to the vinyl siding itself. It needs to be designed and structurally made to fit with, and matched to, the window decorative shutters and the siding.